Apple Tree Holistic Therapies, Leedshttp://appletreeholistics.co.uk
Helping you find your healthy and happyThu, 21 May 2020 14:21:56 +0000en-GB
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1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.2.6Coronavirus – Apocalypse Now or Apocalypse Later? (title courtesy of Steve Douglas)http://appletreeholistics.co.uk/coronavirus-apocalypse-now-or-apocalypse-later-title-courtesy-of-steve-douglas/
Thu, 21 May 2020 14:21:56 +0000http://appletreeholistics.co.uk/?p=1214We are living right now, as we have heard so many times and from so many sources, in unprecedented times. The world as we know it has been flipped on its head, we have unceremoniously been disillusioned of our belief that life can be certain, and amidst the chaos and uncertainty that now seems to […]

]]>We are living right now, as we have heard so many times and from so many sources, in unprecedented times. The world as we know it has been flipped on its head, we have unceremoniously been disillusioned of our belief that life can be certain, and amidst the chaos and uncertainty that now seems to be the foundation of our existence many of us are limping our way through and finding our own ways of just getting by.

I have heard this virus referred to in many ways. Some have suggested it is like an invisible monster roaming our streets and that we should be scared to set foot outside our houses in case it happens to be close by (like the monster might get bored and move on if we all hide away for long enough), others have compared it to a mortal enemy with whom we are at war which suggests there may be ways we can engage the virus and come out victorious (if we just have the right PPE we will be shielded and can evade it, if we come under attack from it we will still emerge victorious just so long as we are a fighter). Others still have suggested that the coronavirus may be a new inhabitant who has come to live amongst us and that we need to find ways of living alongside it, I believe I largely fall into this particular camp.

Another term I have heard banded around for this pandemic is apocalypse and among the things which have kept me entertained over the many weeks whilst we have been in lockdown have been the comparisons on social media of what people thought their post-apocalyptic outfit would look like and what in actual fact the reality has been. Scores of people have taken to social media to post pictures of people wearing skimpy, quite glamourous but distressed looking outfits fit for nothing other than posing against a barren landscape and comparison photos of them in their tracksuit bottomed reality of existence.

While this has been very amusing, I have found myself asking time and again, quite seriously, are we in fact living through an apocalypse?

If we take a look at the dictionary definition of the word apocalypse, we find this:

1. (initial capital letter) revelation.
2. any of a class of Jewish or Christian writings that appeared from about 200 b.c. to a.d. 350 and were assumed to make revelations of the ultimate divine purpose.
3. a prophetic revelation, especially concerning a cataclysm in which the forces of good permanently triumph over the forces of evil.
4. any revelation or prophecy.
5. any universal or widespread destruction or disaster: the apocalypse of nuclear war.
(dictionary.com)

What really interests me from these definitions is the idea of an apocalypse being a revelation of sorts (thank you to Alex Evans for introducing me to this definition initially). The idea that we might learn something from this experience we are having is something I am holding onto for dear life at the moment, it fills me with some sort of hope for our collective futures.

I find myself refusing to not acknowledge exactly what is happening around me and getting really quite angry and frustrated with those who seem happy to stay in a bubble of delusionment (like I have some sort of monopoly on what is the truth).

But is my frustration unwarranted? I think I have enough about me really to be able to stay my frustration and hold onto my empathy (that includes for myself). Afterall are we actually capable of seeing the revelations that this virus might bring let alone learning anything from it right now, whilst ever we are in the midst of what is going on?

Human consciousness is an awesome thing for the most part and is what has made us one of the most successful mammals on this planet. One of the things which makes us stand apart from other animals (from what we can prove) is our enhanced ability to imagine what the future might look like. I’m not convinced that this ability is reserved purely for humans but that’s the topic of another rambling of mine all together so I will try not to get side-tracked here.

This ability has a downside to it though, it has made us a little addicted to the idea of certainty. What we see in most mammals when faced with uncertainty is an increase in vigilance, extra attention is payed to cues from the environment and reacted to accordingly. What we tend to see in humans is a focus on making things certain; studies have shown that people would prefer to receive an electric shock immediately rather than waiting to possibly receive one at some unknown point in the future. They also show increased sympathetic nervous system activation when waiting to receive a shock of unknown timing. It seems to me that what actually seems to set us apart from other animals is our tendency to ruminate on and worry about our uncertainty.

So, what happens when, like now, we can’t necessarily make things certain? Well, it would seem that we all to some degree or other have a leaning towards becoming anxious in these circumstances. The level to which uncertainty can be tolerated differs from human to human, but for the most part our reactions when we reach our level of tolerance is the same.

When we are anxious our bodies go into fight or flight mode, our adrenaline levels raise and our sympathetic nervous system which controls automatic body functions like breathing takes over. Our heart rate rises, breathing becomes more rapid and blood is shunted to our limbs rather than our vital organs preparing us for action, helpful if we are faced with a snarling tiger and we need to act quickly in order to avoid death. As a survival mechanism it is highly effective, when we are faced with an immediate threat to life, however in the circumstances we currently face it is less than useful. Running away will not save us from this virus or the repercussions to our livelihoods and the economy.

If you add to that the fact that when we are in this state our pre-frontal cortex which is responsible for more complex reasoning and decision making goes offline somewhat it becomes clear that being anxious is not helpful for seeing us through this situation. When our more complex thinking and reasoning is impaired by the fight or flight response our ability to work with the information that will see us working out a way through this pandemic goes out of the window also. For some people they are just incapable of seeing right now.

In the face of this I can understand why people might not be capable of looking or might want to turn away from looking at what is actually going on and turn instead to what they think they can guarantee will be certain or perhaps cling onto certainties from the past, it seems like a much more comfortable place to inhabit.

But that still leaves me with the question are we living through an apocalypse right now? I think some, who have a greater tolerance for uncertainty, are experiencing the revelatory nature of our current predicament in the here and now. For others this may come later as their ability to tolerate uncertainty increases or the uncertainty levels in the world at large reduce. Perhaps for some it will never happen.

I worry that not enough of us will learn some useful lessons from this experience or that our addiction to certainty will see us dropping our learnings like hot cakes in favour of picking up old certainties from the past which may or may not serve the world as a whole. But, and this is a big but, I still hold hope.

I hold hope that others like myself will have had/will have new revelations about the state of our world or had their eyes opened even further… to things like personal privilege and the stark realities of inequality, the impact we have on the world in which we co-exist with other beings and how we can live more sympathetically, the realities of where we place power and the constant abuses of power that happen around us to name but a small few. And I hope people have had revelations on a smaller scale too, about our relationships, about how we want to live our lives going forwards and about how our past informs our present and whether this is helpful to us or not. It’s no certainty, but I am finding this active hope is helping me get through.

]]>Holding your sh*t together in tough times!http://appletreeholistics.co.uk/holding-your-sht-together-in-tough-times/
Wed, 29 Apr 2020 11:14:54 +0000http://appletreeholistics.co.uk/?p=1204The coronavirus has changed our world overnight and stripped us of our certainty. We are standing on the threshold of a new world and nobody knows what it is going to look like yet, our circumstances are changing on a daily basis, so we are not even in a place where we can plan for […]

]]>The coronavirus has changed our world overnight and stripped us of our certainty. We are standing on the threshold of a new world and nobody knows what it is going to look like yet, our circumstances are changing on a daily basis, so we are not even in a place where we can plan for a post coronavirus life. And yet our family, friends and the world at large are relying on us keeping our sh*t together and staying functional despite our traumatic circumstances.

Huge emotions are arising for people, fear, anxiety, loss, sorrow, anger, despair, and this for many is becoming overwhelming. People are turning to distractions to numb themselves out in a bid to remain functional and whilst this provides temporary relief from the feelings, they just keep returning, unbidden to wash over you again and again.

Turn to social media and you will find all sorts of advice on how to keep yourself distracted (numbed out) at this time in order to hold it together, baking, reading, learning a new skill, starting a side hustle, writing a book, drinking, the list goes on.

In contrast and just for a bit of balance you also have the realists who say that just existing through this crisis should be enough, that we are suffering from trauma and we are grieving the loss of the world as we know it. Be kind to yourself they say.

That’s all well and good I guess but what about those of us who haven’t really mastered that skill quite yet? Compassion for others is all well and good, but compassion for the self ?!? perhaps that’s a different matter entirely. What about those of us who have people around us saying step up, be here for me, people who we don’t feel we can say no to, sorry I have my own sh*t going on? Where do we find the space to have our moments to just be a mess? What about those of us who don’t know how to express our needs to others, what do we do?

For some of us just being a mess doesn’t feel like an option, but is there a balance to be struck here?

Can you find a space in your life, a space where you just allow yourself to be whatever it is that you need to be, right now? Better still, can you find a place where you can do this and be witnessed by a compassionate other? Can you more accurately assess who you actually need to be something else for at the moment (I’m thinking possibly kids here)? Can you have conversations with the others around you who are turning to you for support right now and say actually, do you know what, maybe I need some support too, how can we look after each other, rather than just being the solid one all the time?

Holding it together by whatever means possible (numbing out) gains us temporary relief from our discomfort and distress but it doesn’t help us to process what is happening for us right now and hampers our effectiveness in this moment. Worse still if we don’t process what is going on for us now it will hamper our ability to move forwards as the crisis dies down and becomes less traumatic and we are required to step into a new future. Our feelings won’t just miraculously go away, they will need to be processed then.

How are you going to look after yourself in all of this and make sure you get to come out the other side in the best way possible?

]]>How are you doing?http://appletreeholistics.co.uk/how-are-you-doing/
Wed, 01 Apr 2020 14:56:36 +0000http://appletreeholistics.co.uk/?p=1200Stop! All change!!! Wow, the world has certainly become a very different place all of a sudden hasn’t it? I’m not massively brilliant at this staying in contact business, but in these crazy worrying times I thought I would break my usual radio silence to ask how are you doing (and yes, I would actually […]

Wow, the world has certainly become a very different place all of a sudden hasn’t it?

I’m not massively brilliant at this staying in contact business, but in these crazy worrying times I thought I would break my usual radio silence to ask how are you doing (and yes, I would actually like to hear your honest answer)?

I’m seeing so many different responses to this current crisis but a lot of what I am observing is very split between positive and negative poles. I’m opting to stay somewhere in the middle, acknowledging my fear, hurt, despair and grief whilst also holding in the other hand the belief that this time will change our world permanently and my hope that perhaps that change might be for the better, not only for humans but for all beings on our planet. I could quite easily drop into the fear and stay there but I don’t think residing solely in that place will serve me well.

I’ve been chatting to people who are struggling with the crisis and particularly the social isolation that we are experiencing at the moment and we’ve been asking the question how do we get through this?

It’s funny isn’t it, I was talking to both my girls at the weekend and although they are both quite introverted home birds and don’t tend to leave the house to socialise with much frequency, the fact that they have had the choice taken away from them has sent them both into a bit of a tailspin. It goes without saying that as pack creatures we will all be being impacted at some level by the enforced lack of contact with our fellow humans.

It’s at these times that I am grateful for my interconnectedness – my connection with the earth and all the beings who live upon it. I am still able to get out every day, even if only for a short time, and I gain such sustenance from my interactions with the world that it is keeping me buoyed up through these times where I cannot be with the ones I love most dearly.

I am grateful too for the technology we have available to us now for communicating across distances. I have obviously grown up in an age where the telephone was just an every day norm, but developments throughout my lifetime now allow us to see as well as to speak to each other via the wonders of video calling. I have historically shied away from this technology claiming it to feel awkward but I’ve been getting to grips with this mode of communication over the last few weeks and I’m actually starting to quite like it.

At first I found it tricky and really confusing to my senses. I have obviously grown so accustomed to the use of the telephone and how we have to adapt to make up for the loss of so many of our sensory inputs when using it to communicate that I didn’t think how adding sight back in might totally discombobulate me. I found it really weird that I could hear and see people but not feel them in quite the same way. I imagine my experience is somewhat akin to the folk who first experienced the telephone back in the 1800’s.

Again I thought of our interconnectedness and how on a quantum level we are all joined up together and that perhaps if I focussed less on trying to feel a person through my screen and more on tapping into the quantum implicate level of my experience that I might overcome this little hurdle and low and behold it worked.

So, I am also grateful for the opportunity, because of the wonders of our communication technology, to be able to continue to do some of the work I would usually do despite having had to close the doors to the clinic for the time being. I miss being with my clients hugely but I can stay connected and I can offer support throughout all of this to people who need it and that feels good.

Joanna Macy talks about gratitude as being an antidote to despair and I believe that staying connected in whatever ways I can, both with others and the world around me, and offering up gratitude for the things I can amidst all that is difficult and challenging right now might well be my way of getting through all of this.

]]>Christmas Openinghttp://appletreeholistics.co.uk/christmas-opening/
Fri, 13 Dec 2019 15:08:56 +0000http://appletreeholistics.co.uk/?p=1157Things to do this Christmas: present buying dinner arranging a million visits to friends & rellies drinking partying overeating not enough sleeping self care? Where are you on your list of things to take care of this Christmas? Get booked in before all the appointment spaces go. Call or text on 07946 071 672

]]>Surviving Winterhttp://appletreeholistics.co.uk/surviving-winter/
Thu, 29 Nov 2018 13:18:54 +0000http://appletreeholistics.co.uk/?p=996I don’t know about you but I find winter a season to be endured rather than enjoyed and over the years I have amassed some survival strategies for getting me through to the other side. Take a look below to find out more… Keeping in Fine Winter Fettle The four things that reliably keep us […]

]]>I don’t know about you but I find winter a season to be endured rather than enjoyed and over the years I have amassed some survival strategies for getting me through to the other side. Take a look below to find out more…

Keeping in Fine Winter Fettle

The four things that reliably keep us physically healthy are eating well, drinking well, moving well and resting well. This is no different in winter to any other time of year, however all of these areas seem to suffer somewhat in the darker, damper days.

Eat well – when energy starts to run low and the darkness draws in most people have a tendency to let the healthy eating side of things slide, I mean, who wants to eat a salad in winter? Planning your food a few days ahead of time and ensuring that you cook healthy, comforting food packed full of protein and veggies will be a good way to keep yourself on the up and up throughout winter. Planning and shopping ahead helps you to avoid having less nutritious food on hand and reduces temptation to eat foods which won’t support your body. Suffering from a fit of can’t be arsedness? I like to plan really simple one pot type dishes at this time of year, think soups, stews, casseroles etc because they hit the comfort button and they are easy. I often find on an evening that the motivation to cook left the building way before I started to get hungry so I find my slow cooker an absolute godsend. Twenty mins of chopping things up on a morning, whack it on and hey presto when I walk through the door in the evening dinner is ready!

You may also want to contemplate boosting your normal food intake with some supplements to support you at this time of year.

Echinacea and elderberry (sambucus nigra) are great for keeping winter sniffles at bay and shortening the symptoms if you succumb.

A good all round vitamin and mineral supplement is a good idea at any time of year but especially in winter.

Milk thistle will help support healthy liver function, especially as the Christmas parties kick in.

Drink Well – Hydration is just as important in winter as it is through the warmer seasons and personally, I often find it hard to keep up to. I like to set myself a four pint challenge every day. I start the day with a pint of water that I have taken up to bed with me the night before and then space my other three pints throughout the day to finish around a couple of hours before I head to bed (that leaves enough time for some more if I feel compelled). I break the day down into segments so I know that if I haven’t drunk my next pint by the time it gets to 11am that I need to get on the case. This means I tick the box for minimum water intake every day, it’s a habit that pays dividends!

When you space your drinking out like this your body quickly becomes accustomed to the amount and frequency at which you drink and starts to utilise the water better and so that need to constantly run to the loo that you get when you first try and increase water intake reduces.

If you can’t face cold, plain water, warm it up and infuse it with some flavour by adding a slice of citrus fruit.

Move well – In spring and summer people tend to spend much more time being active outdoors. In winter we hole up in our central heated dens and become more sedentary. It’s not only outdoor activities which decrease in winter but gym attendance also falls. This leads to stagnation and a lack of exposure to sunlight both of which compromise our immune systems and impact our mood.

Try and get outside every day, even if it’s just a ten-minute stroll on a lunchtime, the fresh air, natural light and a good dose of cold will stimulate you and keep your body working well. Better still, why not start a lunchtime walk or running club with your colleagues? Committing to an activity with others makes you more likely to actually do it rather than find excuses to not do it, and it ticks the box of some social time too.

When it comes lack of motivation to go to the gym why not try shaking up your usual routine? Motivation for exercise is often greater at the start of the day so hitting the gym before work or at lunchtime can ensure you actually get there rather than waiting until the end of the day when you’re tired and the last thing you want to do is double expose yourself to the wet and the cold in order to get your exercise fill.

In addition, you may also want to get your vitamin D levels checked, it’s really not unusual during winter in the UK to become deficient due to our lack of sunlight exposure and a supplement can make a huge difference to our mood and energy levels. Symptoms of vitamin D deficiency include low energy, low mood and muscle / bone aches and weakness.

Rest well – The other thing that tends to go out of the window, especially in the run up to Christmas, is rest. It’s all parties and shopping, visiting family and socialising. This goes against the grain of our natural mammalian biorhythms.

I used to be in the habit of overcommitting myself out of a desire to not let people down but I have learned over the years that if I don’t make time to rest and nurture myself that I just end up burning out.

When you are being invited to all the festive events and get-togethers really think about what you are committing yourself to:

How many events have you committed yourself to this week?

If you go will you still be able to get adequate sleep? If not, where will you offset this?

Have you scheduled yourself some time to just rest? This might involve watching some TV, reading a book, meditating or whatever else is restive, restorative and floats your boat.

Do you like the people you will be with and find them easy to get along with? It takes way more energy and resources to be with people we find challenging so you need to factor this in when planning your diary, extra rest time will be required after challenging events.

Remember you don’t have to say yes to everything. Learning how to say no to people and realising that it doesn’t result in the world ending was a bit of a revelation to me so I know it can be to some of you guys too.

Keeping a Crisp and Clear Winter Head

All of the above will obviously have an impact on your mental and emotional wellbeing as well as your physical health but particularly at this time of year it’s worthwhile remembering moods can run low. It can be a real challenge for many people during the festive season for lots of reasons; spending time with people we find difficult or challenging can take a real toll on your emotional wellbeing, social isolation becomes more prominent when all about you are having fun with friends and loved ones, the lack of exposure to natural sunlight alters our hormonal balances and for some this can lead to symptoms of seasonal effective disorder, the list goes on. Having strategies in place to deal with all these things is key to sailing through this period as smoothly as possible.

Where are you in all the chaos? – Have you really thought about your needs when making your festive plans? What do you need in order to stay healthy and happy? How will you ensure that these needs get met?

Drink and be merry – This time of year our social engagements tend to centre around the consumption of alcohol. Whilst this in itself is not necessarily a bad thing, after all it can be quite pleasant to enjoy a social drink, alcohol is a depressant and drinking too much can lead to low mood, irritability and even aggression. So, when heading out with family and friends consider how much alcohol is right for you? How much allows you to relax and enjoy yourself, and how much is too much? Have a plan and stick to it!

Somebody to lean on – Christmas is generally a very sociable time of year and this can create problems.

For some, the endless social gatherings and having to be on your best behaviour at all times can lead to feelings of restriction and pent up emotions. For you having an outlet, a space where you can spend some quiet downtime with someone with whom you can just be yourself and release, is going to be essential to keep your mental and emotional wellbeing on an even keel. This could be in person or on the phone/online.

Equally you may feel you don’t have anyone in your life with whom to socialise and isolation can be really highlighted at this time of year. Again, reaching out by phone/online can help, and if you really feel there is no-one, there are many community schemes available which help bring people together especially at this time of year in order to alleviate loneliness. Check out schemes such as Community Christmas and Points of Light that organise large scale events to bring people together at such times. A quick internet search for community Christmas meals in your area should reveal a number of results.

You could also combine fulfilling your social needs with doing good, a double whammy as far as boosting positive feelings is concerned. Helping others is shown to improve mental health, reduce stress and raise self-esteem. Christmas is a fantastic time of year to volunteer for a charity or community project.

Exit strategy – For those of you on the spectrum where you know you are required to go to certain events but will find them challenging do you ever think of having an exit strategy planned and ready to implement when the going gets tough? I’m not talking about flouncing out and making a dramatic exit however I like to go into these situations with either a set plan about what time I will leave that minimises my exposure to the situation, or have a non-dramatic exit strategy planned that will be easy to implement at any point.

Cave time – Ensuring you have space to retreat and relax is also essential. As mentioned previously rest is as important as everything else when it comes to maintaining good physical, mental and emotional health. Take a bath, read a book, watch a film, in short… Relax! For those who find it hard to relax practices such as mindfulness, meditation and yoga can be great ways to soothe your nervous system and allow your body and brain to go offline for a little while. Getting a holistic therapy treatment is also a really fantastic way of de-stressing and relaxing.

Ok, so this is not an exhaustive list of how to survive winter, that would be a much longer blog and I already feel like I’ve rambled on. I do hope you find some of this useful though.

]]>It’s time to make self care a priority!http://appletreeholistics.co.uk/its-time-to-make-self-care-a-priority/
Tue, 10 May 2016 14:06:58 +0000http://appletreeholistics.co.uk/?p=713This year I decided that I needed to get my act together so I set out on January 1st with a series of self care objectives in mind. I started in January with a sponsored, month long dryathlon to raise money for the Woodlands Trust. This seemed to extend right into the back end of February I […]

This year I decided that I needed to get my act together so I set out on January 1st with a series of self care objectives in mind.

I started in January with a sponsored, month long dryathlon to raise money for the Woodlands Trust. This seemed to extend right into the back end of February I got so carried away with it. I’ve shaped up my diet, I’m continually increasing my exercise levels and introducing new forms of exercise into my repertoire, I’ve reinstated my fortnightly visits to the massage therapist and am receiving reflexology once a month too, I have cut back on social media time, and I am prioritising down time. For the first time in what feels like at least a couple of years I feel fantastic, I have energy, I feel more productive when I am working, and I feel rested when I’ve had time off.

As I sat by the stream in the picture above the other day enjoying the sunshine filtering down through the trees and listening to the birds singing, I began to wonder what had taken me so long to get round to making these shifts in my lifestyle and I came back to one of my biggest bug bears as a holistic therapist – our society has glorified being busy! Technology has brought us so far in such a little time that we no longer have to expend as much energy on manual jobs such as doing the washing and the cleaning, and since the rise of the internet we have all sorts of things available to us at the touch of a button so even doing the shopping is an effortless task. You’d think with all these advancements in technology we’d be living healthier, more fulfilling, more leisure filled lives but that doesn’t seem to be the case. With advancements in technology seem to have come longer working hours, less leisure time, and more stress.

Mobile phones and emails make being in contact with people a piece of cake, in the dark pre-internet and smartphone ages we would have had to wait until someone was physically present in a building in order to call them, and if we wanted to convey our message in writing we would have written them a letter. This has made everything so much faster and so much more demanding. I find that if I don’t respond to an email within a few hours some people can get very upset, and if I don’t respond to a voicemail almost immediately I can lose business. A big eye opener for me was taking the mobile phone away from my teenage daughter and seeing her meltdown into a blubbering mess because if she didn’t respond to text messages within minutes people would think she had fallen out with them.

The use of social media has meant we can be in contact with people 24/7 if we want to, and we don’t even have to go anywhere (don’t get me started on the huge impact that not enough physical contact with other people is having our health and that of our society). This has in turn meant that our lives (should we choose it) are on display to countless others in the world which ramps up the pressure to be living the perfect life. No-body really wants the rest of the world to see them as a hopeless failure so we are seeing more and more people aspiring to be working long and hard, having the best house, the best things, the best holidays which have to be paid for by working even harder and longer. The stress that goes hand in hand with all of this is huge which is why there is no better time than now to start looking after yourself.

So the conclusion that I came to when I asked myself the question “why haven’t I done this before?” was that to some extent I had fallen prey to the insane way of being in the world that our society is currently putting out there as normal.

Do you feel like you have been caught up in the same insanity? It can be hard sometimes to feel like you can make time for self care but it can be done. What changes do you want to make?

Personally I have decided to take myself off that insane treadmill and to properly start living my life in balance. I don’t check emails, or answer my phone beyond 7pm at night, I work no more than 9 hours a day, I have two days off every week, and I turn my phone off when I am not working (this is a big one). I cook three from scratch meals for myself and my family every day, I start each day with a walk, I keep social media time to no more than half an hour a day, and I make sure that beyond 7pm at night it is down time for me. All of these things are making me feel like I am returning to sanity.

]]>Where does time go?http://appletreeholistics.co.uk/where-does-time-go/
Tue, 19 Apr 2016 20:04:28 +0000http://appletreeholistics.co.uk/?p=692We are well and truly in the midst of spring. It’s a lovely feeling when our energy starts to wake up again at the beginning of February. You can almost feel the life returning to your bones, and as the days go onwards and the weather starts to perk up a little we become more and […]

It’s a lovely feeling when our energy starts to wake up again at the beginning of February. You can almost feel the life returning to your bones, and as the days go onwards and the weather starts to perk up a little we become more and more active.

I love those early days of spring where I find I have lots of ideas floating around, but I love this time of year even more. The ideas that I was floating back in February are starting to come together now into something more concrete, ‘things which are actually happening’. It feels exciting, and it’s great to be part of the flow, working in tune with the rhythms of the year. Not to mention that the bluebells are now starting to bloom too (that always gets me excited).

According to the medicine wheel, now is the time to start ‘doing’, to be reviewing your plans for the year and getting some sort of schedule set (if you haven’t already), and to be getting things underway; sewing the seeds for the harvest you wish to reap at the end of the year.

Your energy levels will soon be at their peak as we head into the summer and if you have no plan of action, or have not laid the foundations by taking your first steps you may find your energy doesn’t get used as optimally as it could, and you may not achieve all you wish in the time you have.

If you’d like to find out more about working in tune with the rhythms of the year, or how shamanic healing can help you get back in the flow get in touch.

]]>New organic healthcare products available in clinic and onlinehttp://appletreeholistics.co.uk/new-organic-healthcare-products-available-in-clinic-and-online/
Tue, 19 Jan 2016 17:03:30 +0000http://appletreeholistics.co.uk/?p=646I’m really excited to announce that the latest addition to my clinic will be Neal’s Yard Remedies Organic products. Clients have been asking me for ages now what products should they use to complement their therapy sessions, or what are the options in natural skincare products, what supplements could they be taking to make sure […]

]]>I’m really excited to announce that the latest addition to my clinic will be Neal’s Yard Remedies Organic products.

Clients have been asking me for ages now what products should they use to complement their therapy sessions, or what are the options in natural skincare products, what supplements could they be taking to make sure they are in peak health etc. I quite often end up pointing people in the direction of Neal’s Yard as I’ve used their products for years and can highly recommend their high quality skincare products, health supplements, essential oils and herbal products.

So when the opportunity to become a consultant came my way, I figured why keep pointing people to another place to buy what they need to keep them looking and feeling great when I could just bring the products straight to them.

I’ve just placed my first stock order today so very soon there will be all these fabulous products available in clinic:

Don’t worry, you can buy these or anything else from the NYRO product range (products include organic skincare, cosmetics, and health supplements) right away by visiting my online store and the products will be delivered straight to your door.

If you’re interested in finding out more about NYRO products or would like to see a catalogue just ask when you come into clinic.

]]>New year’s resolutions? Start on the right foot!http://appletreeholistics.co.uk/new-years-resolutions-start-on-the-right-foot/
Fri, 01 Jan 2016 21:58:01 +0000http://appletreeholistics.co.uk/?p=623It is traditional in our culture to make new year’s resolutions which we are supposed to start from the 1st of January. We see people every year making a commitment to do certain things with their life and by the time we’ve hit February most thoughts of achieving the things we sought to do have […]

It is traditional in our culture to make new year’s resolutions which we are supposed to start from the 1st of January. We see people every year making a commitment to do certain things with their life and by the time we’ve hit February most thoughts of achieving the things we sought to do have gone completely out of the window.

Why is it then that we repeatedly make the effort to come up with a list of things we wish to do differently in our lives, when we know from experience that we are unlikely to meet the challenges we have set for ourselves?

It is human nature to want to grow and change. We see the way we would like to be in the world and strive to act this out. The problem with trying to do this at the beginning of January is that naturally our energy levels are at an all time low. We don’t have the reserves, or the drive to start new projects and to see them through at this time of year.

So how can you make new year’s resolutions and set yourself up to achieve your goals?

Start small and get yourself a plan. There may be a number of things that you would like to achieve in 2016 but trying to do them all at once will more than likely lead to you giving up in the first few weeks. Set yourself a series of small challenges which all work towards you achieving your bigger goals. Remember, start really small. The smaller the first challenge the more likely you will be to achieve it, and then come February when our energy starts to pick up a little you can start your next mini-challenge which might be a little more taxing.

I for example have decided that after a few stressful years that I need to get my health back on track, reduce my stress levels, and develop my business to make it more sustainable. I also want to do some volunteering and charity work to help the environment. I know I’m not in a place to be tackling all of those things at once, and I recognise that they are all goals that will be a work in progress for the rest of the year.

I’ve decided to start really small; I did a 10 day detox in the run up to the festive season which I really enjoyed and definitely saw the benefits of health-wise so I have decided to do another 10 day challenge starting today. This is something I have already done previously and know that I can achieve. I did all the research for it and the preparation last time so it will be even easier to do this time round and not too taxing for my current energy levels. As part of the detox I am abstaining from alcohol, and have seen so many adverts for the Dryathlon in aid of Cancer Research it got me to thinking maybe I could do the same but donate funds raised to an environmental charity. So already I have started to work towards achieving a couple of things on my list but without overwhelming myself with a huge great challenge. When February comes around I will already have set myself up for my next challenge and will keep setting myself new mini-goals throughout the year.

When you work in this way with a number of small challenges spread throughout the year New Year’s Resolutions suddenly become achievable.